Overheard evaluative comments can affect young children’s effort.

= 180 across four studies; 96 boys), and effort was operationalized as a willingness to wait. In Study 1, participants who overheard a positive comment about another child's waiting behavior waited longer than children in a control condition. Surprisingly, in Study 2, an overheard comment that described another child's waiting behavior as not smart also led to a high level of waiting. In contrast, in Study 3, a nonevaluative comment about another child's waiting behavior had no effect on children's waiting, nor did a global negative comment about another child's waiting behavior in Study 4. Taken together, these results shed light on the mechanisms underlying children's regulation of effort and the role of overheard evaluative comments in the socialization process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).